Friday, June 27, 2014

This week's book giveaway is Wayfaring Stranger, the new novel by James Lee Burke. This is not one of the bestselling Montana mystery writer's Dave Robicheaux books, but it does continue the legacy of his other characters: the Hollands. And it includes an appearance by Bonnie and Clyde! Wayfaring Stranger is a big stand-alone novel that covers a fascinating chunk of twentieth-century American history...and I, for one, can't wait to start reading it. Booklist calls it "an ambitious, deeply satisfying historical thriller." One lucky reader will have the chance to meet this Wayfaring Stranger when they win the beautiful new hardcover I'm offering up in this contest. Here are some more details on the plot from the publisher's jacket copy:

From "America's best novelist" (The Denver Post) comes a sprawling thriller drenched with atmosphere and intrigue that takes a young boy from a chance encounter with Bonnie and Clyde to the trenches of World War II and the oil fields along the Texas-Louisiana coast.
It is 1934 and the Depression is bearing down when sixteen-year-old Weldon Avery Holland happens upon infamous criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow after one of their notorious armed robberies. A confrontation with the outlaws ends as Weldon puts a bullet through the rear window of Clyde's stolen automobile.
Ten years later, Second Lieutenant Weldon Holland and his sergeant, Hershel Pine, escape certain death in the Battle of the Bulge and encounter a beautiful young woman named Rosita Lowenstein hiding in a deserted extermination camp. Eventually, Weldon and Rosita fall in love and marry and, with Hershel, return to Texas to seek their fortunes. There, they enter the domain of jackals known as the oil business. They meet Roy Wiseheart--a former Marine aviator haunted with guilt for deserting his squadron leader over the South Pacific--and Roy's wife Clara, a vicious anti-Semite who is determined to make Weldon and Rosita's life a nightmare. It will be the frontier justice upheld by Weldon's grandfather, Texas lawman Hackberry Holland, and the legendary antics of Bonnie and Clyde that shape Weldon's plans for saving his family from the evil forces that lurk in peacetime America and threaten to destroy them all.

If you’d like a chance at winning a copy of Wayfaring Stranger, simply email your name and mailing address to

Put FRIDAY FREEBIE in the e-mail subject line. One entry per person, please. Despite its name, the Friday Freebie runs all week long and remains open to entries until midnight on July 3, at which time I’ll draw the winning name. I’ll announce the lucky reader on July 4. If you’d like to join the mailing list for the once-a-week newsletter, simply add the words “Sign me up for the newsletter” in the body of your email. Your email address and other personal information will never be sold or given to a third party (except in those instances where the publisher requires a mailing address for sending Friday Freebie winners copies of the book).

Want to double your odds of winning? Get an extra entry in the contest by posting a link to this webpage on your blog, your Facebook wall or by tweeting it on Twitter. Once you’ve done any of those things, send me an additional e-mail saying “I’ve shared” and I’ll put your name in the hat twice.

3 comments:

Anything new by James Lee Burke immediately becomes my favorite. I've read all of his Dave Robicheaux stories, and most all of his other books, and unlike a lot of authors, I think he has grown to be a better writer as he writes on. I look forward to ALL his books!

The Quivering Pen

The Quivering Pen's motto can be summed up in two words: Book Evangelism. The blog is written and curated by David Abrams, author of the novels Brave Deeds (Grove/ Atlantic, 2017) and Fobbit (Grove/ Atlantic, 2012), from his home office in Butte, Montana. It is fueled by early-morning cups of coffee, the occasional bowl of Cheez-Its, and a lifelong love of good books.